Sir, - It was with a certain degree of pessimism that I read Neil King's analysis (July 22nd) of the current state of radio broadcasting in this country. But then again, the truth is very often depressing.
Regrettably, the current glut of is the natural (or unnatural?) prodigy spawned by the arrival of Radio Nova and its clones in the early 1980s. Out went accessibility and spontaneity, only to be replaced by computerised playlists presided over by so called radio doctors who bombarded us with the message that they were playing the music we wanted to hear. Choice, however, was relegated to realms of Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
While I would not be a great fan of the groups mentioned by Mr King, I would, like most people, acknowledge that the punk explosion was a major landmark in the ongoing development of popular music and therefore deserves to be treated with parity, at the very least. Surely the music of the Sex Pistols et al is as classic to the teenager of the 1970s as the Stones and The Who are to the teenager of the 1960s?
Equally disturbing is the uneasy feeling that those who only a decade ago were calling for greater choice on the airwaves have themselves become slaves of the classic hits culture. Having recently returned from a trip to England, I was greatly impressed by the number of stations which catered for specific music tastes as well as religious and cultural groups.
Alas, in Ireland, as in the 1970s and 1980s, this ground is once again being abandoned to the pirate operators. It seems that the dial has turned the full circle - can we really have learned so little? - Yours, etc.,
Director/secretary,
Public Radio Ltd., Premier FM, 9 Brandon Road, Dublin 12.